... BACKGROUND: There is a lack of systematic studies of biodegradation of mixtures of VOCs with different hydrophobicities in two‐phase partitioning bioreactors (TPPBs). The role of tailored mixtures of solid polymers on the biodegradation of MEK (low hydrophobicity), toluene (moderate hydrophobicity) and hexane (high hydrophobicity) was evaluated under steady state operation and transient loading (2 ...

... BACKGROUND: There remain technological deficiencies in the economical anaerobic digestion of the entire flow of flushed dairy manure on farms within cold climates. In order to develop an anaerobic digester tailored for this purpose, this study investigated the distributions of biomass and biogas generated in three particle‐size‐characterized zones of flushed dairy manure. RESULTS: Results demonstr ...

... BACKGROUND: An emerging innovation for the treatment of polluted air consists in using a liquid-solid biphasic system, in which the sequestering phase contains inert polymer beads. The different polymers tested here for this purpose were; Hytrel® G3548L, Hytrel® G4078W, styrene butadiene copolymer, 28% and 31%, silicone rubber, PEBAX® 2533, and rubber tires. The selection of the most effective pol ...

... BACKGROUND: Electrochemical advanced oxidation treatment using boron‐doped diamond (BDD) electrodes is a promising technology to treat small amounts of toxic and biorefractory pollutants in water. This process has been tested on the degradation of naproxen, a common pollutant drug present in surface waters. To optimize the process a series of experiments have been designed to study the interaction ...

... BACKGROUND: A closed‐circulating system for ethanol fermentation was constructed by coupling a cell‐immobilized bed fermentor with pervaporation using a composite PDMS membrane. A continuous fermentation experiment was carried out for about 250 h in the system at 28 °C. RESULTS: The cell density in the immobilized bed was up to 1.76 × 10¹⁰ cells g⁻¹ gel. The ethanol concentration in the broth was ...

... For more than 30 years, PEGylation has been used to improve the physicochemical properties of several proteins and therapeutic drugs having a major impact in the biopharmaceutical industry. The purification of PEGylated proteins usually involves two basic challenges: (1) the separation of PEG‐proteins from other reaction products; and (2) the sub‐fractionation of PEG‐proteins on the basis of their ...

... This review focuses on the development and use of microfluidic devices within a clinical setting. The underlying theoretical background of microfluidics is briefly elucidated. The materials and techniques used to fabricate the devices and their applicability to the clinical environment are described. The current research in this area is appraised and projections for future applications are discuss ...

... BACKGROUND: Lignocellulose is a large source of biomass. However, the conversion ratio of lignocellulose into fermentable sugars is quite low, and the saccharification process requires lots of enzyme. In order to improve biocatalysis efficiency of cellulase for lignocellulose, poly ethylene glycol (PEG4000) is added to the above process. The effect of the order of addition of PEG4000 and cellulase ...

... BACKGROUND: Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene (BTEX) and oxy‐fuels such as methyl tert‐butyl ether (MTBE) are typical contaminants of ground waters. Biological and physical techniques are often ineffective in removing these compounds, while promising results were obtained with advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), which are based on oxidation by hydroxyl radicals. Electrochemical oxidation wit ...

... BACKGROUND: Hydrothermal processes are an eco‐friendly processes that provide an interesting alternative for chemical utilization of lignocellulosic materials, in which water and crop residues are the only reagents. In this work the effect of process conditions (size distribution of the wheat straw, temperature and time) was evaluated against production of fermentable products. RESULTS: The use of ...

... BACKGROUND: Propylene glycol ether is expected to be a safe substitute for toxic ethylene glycol ether usually used in industry owing to its negligible toxicity. Although catalysis of solid acids or bases for the synthesis of the ether can avoid separation of catalysts, liquid waste treatment and corrosion problems, it suffers from drawbacks, e.g. lower activity and selectivity to target product, ...

... BACKGROUND: Hydrolysis of lactose with β‐D‐galactosidase is one of the most promising biotechnological applications in the food industry because of its use in the production of low lactose milk products and whey hydrolysis. To overcome the problem of enzyme extraction from cells due to the intracellular nature of β‐D‐galactosidase and the poor permeability of the cell membrane to lactose, permeabi ...

... BACKGROUND: The capability of cyanobacteria to convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates offers a promising carbon‐neutral energy solution. Unfortunately, the lifespan of cyanobacteria based photoelectrochemical cells is poor because discharge current drops to zero within days. The primary factor that limits lifespan was believed to be the toxicity of an artificial mediator that extracts electrons ...

... Biphasic systems such as two‐phase partitioning bioreactors (TPPBs) have been used to alleviate biological inhibition by sequestering inhibitory compounds within an immiscible phase. The use of solid polymer beads as this auxiliary phase provides a fully biocompatible alternative to potentially toxic organic solvents. While guidelines exist for the rational selection of the polymer phase, the effe ...

... BACKGROUND: Magnesium hydride is considered to be a promising hydrogen storage material because of its high gravimetric and volumetric storage capacities. However, its slow kinetics and high desorption temperature of > 300 °C limit practical applications. In this work, TiC nanoparticles were selected to modify the hydrogen storage properties of MgH₂. Composite mixtures (MgH₂ + TiC) were prepared u ...

... BACKGROUND: Municipal wastewater could be a potential growth medium that has not been considered for cultivating oleaginous microorganisms. This study is designed to determine if a consortium of oleaginous microorganism can successfully compete for carbon and other nutrients with the indigenous microorganisms contained in primary effluent wastewater. RESULTS: The oleaginous consortium inoculated w ...

... BACKGROUND: PEGylation reactions often result in a heterogeneous population of conjugated species and unmodified proteins that presents a protein separations challenge. Aqueous two‐phase systems (ATPS) are an attractive alternative for the potential fractionation of native proteins from their PEGylated conjugates. The present study characterizes the partition behaviors of native RNase A and α‐Lac ...

... Addition of barium chloride (BaCl₂.2H₂O) to alknolamine aids formation of barium carbonates when landfill gas (LFG) is passed through the alkanolamine solution. The process is an economical and efficient way of removing large amounts of CO₂. Supersaturation plays an important role in this interesting process. ...

... BACKGROUND: The production of biodiesel from activated sludge obtained from Tuscaloosa, AL was optimized based on the yield of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) using an in situ transesterification process. An orthogonal central composite response surface design was considered to investigate the main and interaction effects of temperature, methanol to sludge ratio, and catalyst concentration. RESUL ...

... BACKGROUND: Much attention has been paid to the catalytic conversion of ethanol to olefins, since biomass resources such as ethanol are carbon‐neutral and renewable, and olefins are useful as both fuels and chemicals. It has been reported that zeolite H‐ZSM‐5 is effective for converting ethanol to hydrocarbons, with the chief products being aromatic compounds. RESULTS: Successive addition of Fe an ...